Existing law establishes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation under the direction of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, who is required to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities related to oil and gas production within an oil and gas field so as to prevent damage to life, health, property, and natural resources. Existing law establishes the California State University under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. This bill would require the department, consistent with its statutory authority and in coordination with other state or federal regulatory agencies, to prioritize granting approvals for specified types of low-carbon or carbon-reducing technologies and applications. The bill would authorize the department to establish the Subsurface Low-Carbon Demonstration Project Program to facilitate partnerships among the state, the California State University system, private industry, and public entities to study and demonstrate innovative subsurface technologies using existing and idle wells. The bill would authorize the department to establish various programs in partnership with the California State University and California State University, Bakersfield, including (1) the Regional Subsurface Energy Transition and Applied Research Program and (2) a subsurface energy research field station for applied research, field testing, monitoring, and demonstration of subsurface technologies. The bill would also authorize the department to (3) collaborate with the California Energy Research Center at California State University, Bakersfield, and recognize the center as a state-affiliated applied research, technical assistance, and policy support partner, as provided, and (4) designate and support the California Core Repository at California State University, Bakersfield, as an official state-affiliated repository, as provided. This bill would authorize the department to establish and administer an official department office at California State University, Bakersfield, and would authorize the California State University to support and collaborate on activities across the full scope of the department's statutory responsibilities, as provided. This bill would explicitly authorize university-based researchers associated with any of the above-described programs to serve on advisory panels, technical working groups, and research committees in an advisory capacity, and provide scientific expertise to inform regulatory development, interagency coordination, and public communication. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for California State University, Bakersfield.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases and requires the state board to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level no later than December 31, 2030. The act declares the policy of the state to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, but no later than 2045, and to achieve and maintain net negative greenhouse gas emissions thereafter. The act also requires the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with specified entities, to determine an ambitious range of targets for natural carbon sequestration, and for nature-based climate solutions, that reduce greenhouse gas emissions for 2030, 2038, and 2045 to support state goals to achieve carbon neutrality and foster climate adaptation and resilience. The act requires the Natural Resources Agency and the state board to establish an expert advisory committee composed of specified entities to provide recommendations on addressing barriers to efficient implementation of the provisions relating to climate targets. This bill would additionally require that expert advisory committee to include an expert in soil carbon sequestration. The bill would establish the Climate-smart Organics Management for Protecting Our Soil and Terrain (COMPOST) Act of 2026. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with specified entities, to, on or before January 1, 2028, develop an integrated nature-based climate strategy to link waste diversion goals with soil health practices on natural and working lands. The bill would require the strategy to include multiagency recommendations and incentives to increase climate-friendly on-farm compost production and use, including compost application on grasslands and priority rangeland for improved vegetation and carbon storage. The bill would require the recommendations to be consistent with specified publications, standards, and strategies, including the reduction of at least 5,000,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the state annually. This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to use best available science, mapping, and land management planning tools to support prioritization, siting, and deployment of soil amendment strategies to maximize climate benefits. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency to publish, and annually update, the nature-based climate strategy for compost on its internet website.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations for greenhouse gas emissions limits and emissions reduction measures to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in furtherance of achieving the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined. The act authorizes that state board to include in those regulations the use of a market-based compliance mechanism, known as the California Cap-and-Invest Program, to comply with those regulations. Existing law requires moneys collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of the California Cap-and-Invest Program to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and continuously appropriates a portion of the moneys in the fund for various purposes. Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with the state board, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Food and Agriculture, an expert advisory committee established, as provided, and other relevant state agencies, to determine an ambitious range of targets for natural carbon sequestration, and for nature-based climate solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions for 2030, 2038, and 2045 to support state goals to achieve carbon neutrality and foster climate adaptation and resilience. Existing law defines "nature-based climate solutions" for these purposes to mean activities, such as restoration, conservation, and land management actions, that increase net carbon sequestration or reduce greenhouse gas emissions in natural and working lands. This bill would annually appropriate the sum of $250,000,000 from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the annual Budget Act each fiscal year from the 2027–2028 to the 2045–46 fiscal year, inclusive, to achieve nature-based climate solutions on natural, working, and urban lands, including $150,000,000 to be allocated to the Natural Resources Agency to fund nature-based climate solutions, as provided, and $100,000,000 to be allocated for nature-based climate solutions at the discretion of the Legislature, as provided. The bill would additionally appropriate, after those amounts are allocated, the sum of $150,000,000 from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the annual Budget Act each fiscal year from the 2027–2028 to the 2045–46 fiscal year, inclusive, to the Department of Food and Agriculture to fund sustainable agricultural practices and nature-based climate solutions, as provided.
Existing law regulates the emission of air contaminants, including the oxides of nitrogen, into the atmosphere. Existing law generally vests regulatory jurisdiction over stationary sources of air pollution to the air pollution control districts and air quality management districts and regulatory jurisdiction over mobile sources of air pollution to the State Air Resources Board. This bill would require, on or before December 31, 2029, the state board to conduct an assessment of the amount of decarbonized gaseous fuels that will be needed to decarbonize hard-to-electrify end uses and maintain reliability in the electricity sector and to post the assessment on its internet website. The bill would require the assessment to include an assessment of the need for decarbonized gaseous fuels for each hard-to-electrify end use, as defined. The bill would require the state board, in assessing the policies and incentives, to consider, among other things, how to incentivize the increased production and use of decarbonized gas in California and how to maximize the benefits of decarbonized gas production and use in California, as provided.
The Elder California Pipeline Safety Act of 1981 requires the State Fire Marshal to administer provisions regulating the inspection of intrastate pipelines that transport hazardous liquids. The act requires the State Fire Marshal to adopt hazardous liquid pipeline safety regulations in compliance with the federal law relating to hazardous liquid pipeline safety, as provided. The act authorizes the State Fire Marshal to exempt the application of those regulations to any pipeline, or portion thereof, when it is determined that the risk to public safety is slight and the probability of injury or damage remote. The act requires any new or replacement pipeline near environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas in the coastal zone to use best available technology based on a risk analysis conducted by the operator to reduce the amount of oil released in an oil spill to protect state waters and wildlife. A person who willfully and knowingly violates the act or a regulation issued pursuant to the act is, upon conviction, subject to a fine, imprisonment, or both a fine and imprisonment, as provided. This bill would make an application for a specified exemption pursuant to these provisions subject to a 60-day public comment period and, upon request of any interested person, require it to be considered at a public hearing. The bill would make a project that has received an exemption from the State Fire Marshal, as described above, subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. The bill would make any repaired pipeline near environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas in the coastal zone subject to the requirement to use best available technology based on a risk analysis conducted by an independent expert, rather than the operator, and require that analysis to address prevention, as well as reduction, of the amount of oil released in an oil spill, as described above, and make related changes. The bill would prohibit idled, inactive, or out-of-service hazardous liquid pipelines under the jurisdiction of the State Fire Marshal that have experienced a reportable incident, such as a hazardous liquid spill, from being reactivated or operated, unless specified conditions are met. The bill would require, for any idled, inactive, or out-of-service pipeline that has spilled 10,000 gallons or more of hazardous liquid, the operator to permanently abandon the pipeline by July 1, 2027, or within 6 months of the pipeline's most recent incident, and require the operator to restore the site to its natural condition no later than one year following permanent abandonment. By creating new crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the State Fire Marshal to require permanent abandonment of a pipeline if the best available technology is not achievable for a pipeline because of operational aspects, pipeline or regional conditions, or other factors. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to suspend the operations of any pipeline that is not in compliance with the requirements to use best available technology no later than January 1, 2027. Existing law establishes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation, under the direction of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, who is required to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells, as provided. A person who violates, fails, neglects, or refuses to comply with the oil and gas laws, or who fails, neglects, or refuses to furnish any report or record required pursuant to those laws, is guilty of a crime. This bill would require an operator seeking approval for a new well, production facility, or specified pipelines in the coastal zone to submit an oil leak detection and response plan, as specified, and obtain approval from the division before obtaining approval for the new well, production facility, or specified pipeline. By creating new crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes the Department of Parks and Recreation to grant permits and easements to an oil and gas lessee of the state for pipeline right-of-way purposes. This bill would prohibit any intrastate oil pipeline that has spilled 10,000 gallons or more of oil cumulatively since its construction from operating within 0.5 miles of a state park, a designated ecological reserve, as defined, or a wildlife area, as determined by the Fish and Game Commission. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law prohibits the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission from certifying a nuclear fission thermal powerplant, except for specified powerplants, and provides that a nuclear fission thermal powerplant, except specified powerplants, is not a permitted land use in California unless certain conditions are met regarding the existence of technology for the construction and operation of nuclear fuel rod processing plants and of demonstrated technology or means for the disposal of high-level nuclear waste, as specified. This bill would exempt a nuclear microreactor, as defined, from those provisions.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , in consultation with the specified entities, to adopt a biennial integrated energy policy report containing certain information in a specified format. Existing law requires the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission and the Independent System Operator, to adopt a goal for load shifting to reduce net peak electrical demand and adjust this target in each biennial integrated energy policy report thereafter. This bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with specified entities, to analyze the cost-effectiveness of specific load flexibility programs and other types of load-shifting interventions and identify both the approximate amount of load shifting and the cost-effectiveness of each type of load-shifting intervention in the next update to the biennial integrated energy policy report after January 1, 2027, as provided. The bill would require the Energy Commission, as part of each integrated energy policy report, to estimate each retail supplier's load-shifting potential, giving consideration to certain factors, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before July 1, 2028, and biennially thereafter, to analyze and publish the amount of load shifting that each retail supplier achieved in the prior calendar year.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to establish the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program that includes the direct install program and the statewide incentive program for low-carbon building technologies, as provided. This bill would require the Energy Commission to establish a mechanism to notify applicants to the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program that they may also be eligible for building energy efficiency and decarbonization incentives authorized by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) . Existing law vests the PUC with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations. Existing law establishes an 11-member Low-Income Oversight Board to advise the PUC on low-income electrical, gas, and water customer issues, as specified. This bill would add to the Low-Income Oversight Board a member to be selected by the Executive Director of the Energy Commission.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming in order to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The act requires all state agencies to consider and implement strategies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This bill would additionally require state agencies to prioritize strategies to reduce methane emissions, including emissions from imported petroleum and natural gas, where feasible and cost effective. The bill would require the state board to encourage natural gas procurement on behalf of the state to shift to certified natural gas producing low methane emissions. The bill would also authorize the state board, the Public Utilities Commission, and other relevant agencies to apply approved protocols that measure, monitor, report, and verify methane emissions to existing programs to reduce methane emissions, including emissions from imported petroleum and natural gas procured by utilities and other large gas users, as provided. The bill would also authorize the state board, the Public Utilities Commission, and other relevant agencies to use all relevant sources and standards, including, but not limited to, emissions data, models, or protocols from existing or new regulations.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to adopt, on a biennial basis, an integrated energy policy report that contains an overview of major energy trends and issues facing the state, including supply, demand, pricing, reliability, efficiency, and impacts on public health and safety, the economy, resources, and the environment. Existing law requires that the report present policy recommendations based on an in-depth and integrated analysis of the most current and pressing energy issues facing the state. This bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before March 1, 2027, to designate a person within the Energy Commission or identify and retain an external candidate to serve as the Senior Counselor on Industrial Policy and Clean Energy Development, and would require the senior counselor to, among other things, convene working groups that focus on certain issues, as provided. The bill would require the Energy Commission, the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the Public Utilities Commission, the Department of General Services, and the office of the Treasurer, on or before March 1, 2027, to enter into a memorandum of understanding on equitable clean energy supply chains and industrial policy in California with specified goals and provisions, as provided. The bill would require the senior counselor to track and coordinate the work under the memorandum of understanding and to prepare an annual report summarizing the key findings and recommendations resulting from that work. The bill would require that the report be presented at a public meeting of the Energy Commission and be published on the Energy Commission's internet website. The bill would establish in the State Treasury the Equitable Clean Energy Supply Chain and Industrial Policy Fund and would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, authorize the moneys in the fund to be expended for purposes of the bill.
